Laminated game board



C w, 1957 R. A. FROEHLIG LMINTED GAME BOARD Filed March 30, 1964 "Immun" l'* Ill Il' ||lI||||||| IIIIIIII w "MIM n |l In". lill I ,mmm Hmmm... ...lulllml INVENTOR,

United States Patent O 3,346,259 LAMINATED GAME BOARD Rudolph A. Froehlig, Little Neck, N.Y., assignor to Modern Album and Finishing, Inc., College Point, N.Y., a corporation of New York Filed Mar. 30, 1964, Ser. No. 355,626 2 Claims. (Cl. 273-136) The present invention relates to game boards and more particularly to an improved game board and to an im. proved method of making a .gameboard Heretofore, in the prior art, game boards have been manufactured by using a pair of rectangular boards or face panels and connecting them together along their longitudinal edges fby a hinge strip adhered to the long edges of the two face panels.

This procedure has the disadvantage of requiring accurate centering of the face panels and the hinge strip. It will be appreciated that such a procedure is expensive and time consuming.

In addition, hinge strips are commonly placed on both sides of the side panels, which of course increases the cost. Furthermore, the use of a hinge ystrip attached to one face of the panels, makes it ditficult to properly bend the game board in both directions so that the strip has a short life.

The present invention eliminates these drawbacks and provides an improved game board in which the face panels are automatically centered during assembly.

Another object of the present invention is an improved game board which is more durable.

Another object of the present invention is the provision of an impro-ved method of making a game board which is simple and does not require expensive machinery.

Other and further objects of the invention will be obvious upon an understanding of the illustrative embodiment about to be described, or will be indicated in the appended claims, 'and various advantages not referred to herein will occur to one skilled in the art upon employment of the invention in practice.

A preferred embodiment of the invention has been chosen for purposes of illustration and description and is shown in the accompanying drawings, forming a part of the specification, wherein:

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a game board made in accordance wit-h the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a sectional view taken lalong line 2 2 of FIG. 1.

FIG. 3 is a perspective view showing the game board in folded position.

FIG. 4 is `a fragmentary sectional view taken along lines 4 4 o-f FIG. 3.

FIG. 5 is a perspective view showing the manner of making the game board of the present invention.

Referring to the drawings and more particularly to FIG. 1, the game board 1 comprises a pair of hingedly connected rectangular face panels 2a and 3a. The face panels 2a and 3a each have a game board design thereon which is the embodiment shown in the drawing is a chess or checkerboard. However, it will be understood that the design used on the panels may vary depending on the purpose the game board is to serve.

The game board 1 comprises a substantially square centnal hinge sheet 5 having the face panels 2a and 3a adhered thereto on each side of center line 5a.

The face panels 2a and 3a are formed from large substantially square sheets 2 and 3 (FIG. 5) which Iare folded in half along the hinge lines 4 and 6, respectively, to form face panels 2a and 3a and back panels 2b and 3b. The folded sheets 2 and 3 are then mounted on the hinge sheet 5 so that the face panels Ztl-3a and back panels 2b-3b straddle the edges 7 and `8 of the hinge sheet 5.

The panels y2er-3a and ZIJ-3b are moved toward each other until the inwardly facing portions 4a and 6a of fold lines 4 and 6 of the sheets 2 and 3 strike the opposed end edges 7 and 8 of the hinge sheet 5 as shown in FIG. 2. The face and back panels 2a and 3a and 2b and 3b are then adhered to the hinge sheet 5 by a suitable adhesive 10.

There is a space .between the inner edges of the -face panels 2a-3a and back panels 2b-3b so that the hinge sheet 5 can fold along its center line 5a as shown in FIGS. 3 Iand 4. It will be noted that the panels Za-Zb and .3a-3b can fold in either direction with equal ease and without placing any undue strain on the hinge sheet.

Preferably and in order to obtain a strong bond, the hinge sheet S is so positioned with respect to the sheets 2 and 3 so that its grain (as shown by arrow 15 FIG. 5) is Iat right angles to the grain of the sheets as shown by arrows 16 and 17.

While in the drawings the sheets 2 and 3 are shown as being a single piece. It will be understood that separate pieces may also be used which are joined toget-her by a hinge or other suitable member along the edge 4 .and 6 without departing lfrom the scope of the invention. Furthermore, instead of folding the sheets 2 Iand 3 in half, as shown in the drawings the sheets may be folded along any desired line so that a greater portion of the face or back panels are then on any desired side of the lhinge sheet. In addition, the sheets 2 and 3 need not be made square as shown in the drawings.

It will be seen that the present invention provides an improved game board in which the face panels are automatically centered; which is more durable and which does not require expensive machinery.

As various changes may be made in the form, construction and arrangement of the parts herein without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention and without sacrificing any of its advantages, it is to 'be understood that all matter herein is to be interpreted as illustrative and not in a limiting sense.

Having thus described my invention, I claim:

1. A game board comprising a substantially rectangular hinge sheet having upper and lower faces a central hinge area and opposed end edges, fa pair of substantially rectangular panel-forming sheets, each panel-forming sheet being substantially equal in size to each other and to said hinge sheet, each of said panel-forming sheets being folded in half to form a pair of face panels having terminal edges, the face panels of each panel-forming sheet straddling an end edge of the hinge sheet so that the area of the hinge sheet on each side of the central hinge area is interposed between said -face panels, the face panels being adhered to said hinge sheet, the terminal edges of the face panels of each of said panel-forming sheets being adjacent said central hinge area and spaced from each other, whereby said game board may 'be folded along said central |hinge area, each said face panel on one side of said hinge sheet having means including game board indicia thereon.

2.,A game board as claimed in claim 1 wherein the 1,889,144 11/1932 Hubbard et a'l. 116-100 grain of the hinge sheet is at right angles t0 the grain of v 1,958,033 5/1934l Cohn 161-100 the face panels. 2,284,242 5/ 1942 Ziemmerman 273-136 References Cited 3,148,105 9/1964 Johnson 161-59 X UNITED STATES PATENTS 5 1,535,503 4/1925 Spaeder n 161 104 X F. BARRY SHAY, Primary Examiner. 

1. A GAME BOARD COMPRISING A SUBSTANTIALLY RECTANGULAR HINGE SHEET HAVING UPPER AND LOWER FACES A CENTRAL HINGE AREA AND OPPOSED END EDGES, A PAIR OF SUBSTANTIALLY RECTANGULAR PANEL-FORMING SHEETS, EACH PANEL-FORMING SHEET BEING SUBSTANTIALLY EQUAL IN SIZE TO EACH OTHER AND TO SAID HINGE SHEET, EACH OF SAID PANEL-FORMING SHEETS BEING FOLDED IN HALF TO FORM A PAIR OF FACE PANELS HAVING TERMINAL EDGES, THE FACE PANELS OF EACH PANEL-FORMING SHEET STRADDLING AN END EDGE OF THE HINGE SHEET SO THAT THE AREA OF THE HINGE SHEET ON EACH SIDE OF THE CENTRAL HINGE AREA IS INTERPOSED BETWEEN SAID FACE PANELS, THE FACE PANELS BEING ADHERED TO SAID HINGE SHEET, THE TERMINAL EDGES OF THE FACE PANELS OF EACH OF SAID PANEL-FORMING SHEETS BEING ADJACENT SAID CENTRAL HINGE AREA AND SPACED FROM EACH OTHER, WHEREBY SAID GAME BOARD MAY BE FOLDED ALONG SAID CENTRAL HINGE AREA, EACH SAID PANEL ON ONE SIDE OF SAID HINGE SHEET HAVING MEANS INCLUDING GAME BOARD INDICIA THEREON. 